Craig+WilsieLBF

Executive Summary
The data used was collected through the survey “Learning, Boredom, and Fun” (LBF) provided by the course Edtec 670. The respondents included men and women, a wide range of ages and educational levels. Since I teach fourth grade, the group I was most interested in focusing on was elementary aged students. After looking at the surveys that had been collected, I realized that particular group was rather small. So the surveys I personally gathered were all from nine and ten year olds. I was able to add about ten respondents to the survey. Whether young or old, there were many similarities to what people felt were boring or fun learning experiences.

What Makes Learning Boring?

 * 1. In general, an instructor that only lectures will bore his or her students to tears.** Many many respondents described their boring learning experience as being in a formal classroom setting where the instructor lectured (often in a monotone voice) and there was no interaction at all. Many descriptions included the instructor reading from a text or right off PowerPoint slides. Often the instructor seemed more interested in staying on pace with the syllabus than whether or not the students were actually learning anything. Unenthusiastic was another common description of the lecturing instructor. This response from Traveler is a typical description: // The professor was extremely boring. She didn’t seem to make any effort to make the class more interesting for the students. Granted the material wasn’t exciting material(advanced accounting), but she just lectured and made no attempt to get the students interested in learning. We sat in class three days a week, took notes, listened to her lecture and prepared our assignments. //
 * 2. In general, the learning experience will be boring without a chance to interact with the teacher or peers.** Many respondents described their boring learning experience as not being expected to interact with either the teacher or peers. When using the filters //no interaction//, approximately 10% of the boring experiences used that exact phrase. Many others had similar feelings but used different phrasing. A description from Jazzy J was pretty representative of this group: // I think it was boring because there was no student/teacher interaction, nor any student/student interaction. The professor simply recited the information about each slide. I have taken other art history classes that were made fun because the teacher told interesting facts about each of the artists on the slides, and encouraged student interaction. //For the most part it was older students (25-50 years of age) with undergraduate degrees or higher. I did notice that while younger students didn't usually describe boring experiences as having no interaction, they instead described fun experiences as those that did have interaction with peers (but not in those words).
 * 3.** **There needs to be some interest in the topic.** Many respondents thought the learning was boring because of what they were learning. The topic itself was boring, and the instructor did nothing to spice it up. Often the topic was not relevant to them and the class was something they were required to do. Many learning experiences at the workplace were considered boring, often because it was something they already knew! Scott writes: // The training was mandatory for all employees even though there were many people who probably didn't need it. //
 * 4. Instructor enthusiasm can effect the student's enthusiasm.** Several respondents commented about whether or not the instructor was enthusiastic. Billy Bob describes his boring learning experience: // The teacher was definitely bored of the subject, no passion in his presentation, and droned on with a constant monotone voice. // If the instructor is not interested in the topic, it only stands to reason that the student will follow their lead. Whereas if an instructor is truly interested in what they teach, that enthusiasm could carry over to a student that was not very interested in the topic to begin with. For example, SurfBetty's experience at a work training: //There were slides, video, interaction with the instructor, students, games, prizes, questions/answer sessions, lots of joking. All of [this] made it fun -- very interactive and the **instructor was excited about the training and made it fun**.//
 * 5.** **Instructor to student, "Sit still, Listen, Watch and Remember what I say. You don't have to do anything else. Oh, and be bored out of your mind!"** Looking at the overall survey data that is quantitative, it is quite clear that most respondents' boring experiences involved sitting and listening only. Expectations of thinking creatively or critically were very low, as well as interacting with the instructor or peers. But the most unexpected thing of all....to move around (2%). Better go to the bathroom before class starts!

What Makes Learning Fun?
Almost all the elementary students' responses included something about having something concrete in their hands as part of the learning activity. Pearly remembered learning fractions with candy bars: //Acting out the problem with the candy bar made it easy to understand fractions. easier than on paper.// Sopha describes what she liked: // We learned about mock rocks and rocks by actually interacting and touching the rocks. // Many of the respondents described a science experiment or a math lesson that used manipulatives. The kids like to touch stuff!
 * 1. Adult learners (ages twenty to forty) have expectations of interacting with other learners (65%) and with the instructor (80%).** Interactive learning is the expectation and in most cases what makes it fun for adult learners. In many cases it was fun because the instructor encouraged student participation by interacting with the students. Beth O. wrote, //The instructor asked questions randomly, forcing me to stay on my toes and make sure I was absorbing the information//. Appletown Andriod responded, //it was extremely interactive and forced me to consistently think out of the box//. In addition to interacting with the teacher, this group enjoys interacting with peers and being part of the teaching process. This was summed up nicely by Miss Mouse: // This experience was fun to me because I was interacting with other classmates, moving around and really engaged in the lesson. The instructor was there to give us a helping hand, however he did not require us to only listen to him. I was actively interacting with my classmates and the material which reinforced the material we were learning. //
 * 2.** **The instructor can make all the difference!** Since a monotone, lecturing teacher that neither interacts with the students nor has any enthusiasm for what they are teaching can make for a boring learner experience, it is no shock that an instructor that is on the flip-side of all these can create a fun learning environment. Many respondents appreciated instructors that were knowledgeable and passionate about the topic. Also appreciated was well-organized, informal, and humorous! For example, Aaron wrote: // All the difference in this course over the boring one had to do specially with the manner that the instructor interacted with the class by forcing us to become engaged in the material. His personality was fun but backed up with expertise in his field. //
 * 3. Being creative and creating something.** A somewhat common response across all age groups was getting to be creative or creating something. 65% of respondents said they were expected to be creative during their fun experience. Hovi, age 7 says his experience was fun because //We got to build our own things and be creative//. Baseball Kid, a sixth grader remembers // we made an alphabet book about the book we had just read, we used computers, and got to add artwork to our books, when we were finished we shared our books with the class. // It is not only kids that find this kind of learning fun. For example, CPerez writes: // We got to do projects together. We got to creatively think. Not only listen, but experience. //
 * 4. A majority of elementary students prefer learning experiences that involve hands on activities.**
 * 5. Elementary students prefer learning experiences outside of a formal classroom setting.** Six out of 17 respondents described a field trip a fun learning experience. This really is not too shocking; my own favorite memories of elementary school are of field trips. Jordan T. describes his experience: //We got to go into a hut and learn a lot of information about the Kumeyaay. It was exciting to go back in history and see how people lived and how they used the land to survive as a group of people//. Delaney describes her trip to an aviation museum and going in flight simulator: //I was able to learn to fly a plane by myself with the instructor coaching me. He made it very fun//. In addition to being outside of the classroom setting, a field trip also combines learning with several other common fun attributes: **movement**, **hands on**, **interaction with others**, and an **interesting topic**. A field trip is kind of like the perfect storm of learning experiences.

Implications
Since I am a fourth grade teacher, I naturally gravitated towards finding out what my demographic's opinions were on this topic. So my strongest learning form this survey is geared towards my own teaching practices. Many of my own students took the survey, so when they mentioned a certain teacher or a particular project, I had a pretty good idea who they were talking about. And I was glad it was not me they were thinking was boring! Then there it was, not only once but twice...my lessons on how to write a summary were BORING!? Once I dried my eyes I realized that they were probably right. After all, my lesson didn't meet any of their //fun// criteria. But how do you incorporate movement into a summary lesson? A field trip? What I could do (and did do) was incorporate a hands on activity with a partner so that they would have interaction. It was a //summary sort//, where the sentences of a summary were mixed up and they had to read them and rearrange them into the correct order. I'm sure that none of them are going to jump on the survey and change their fun learning response after today's activity. But they were very engaged, and they were working with their partners.

I guess what I have learned is that instructors should try their best to tailor lessons to their intended audience. I know in my own classroom, I can't always make everyone happy. Not every lesson will be the funnest activity ever. But there are ways I can make a lesson a little funner, or a little more relevant, or a little more engaging. Any instructor that is clued in on the group he or she is teaching should be able to create an interesting learning experience. If you're teaching the training at work and you know that half the people went through it the previous year, you're going to have to kick it up a notch!